Brookwater hosts the Qld Open for the third successive year. It's a great venue and a true test of golf. With a superb layout it tests the ball striking skills of all players.

This year the cold weather in Brisbane has hurt the course and it isn't in its usual mint condition. The tough is sparse and certainly the course is longing for some grass growth in certain areas.

I have had a good week enjoying being at home for a tournament, a rare treat for a tournament professional. I was also fortunate enough to be able to invest some time into the juniors at Brookwater too on Tuesday afternoon as I was introduced to them by resident teaching pro John Collins. It was a blast of an afternoon and the kids left smiling so I'm sure it was fun for them too!! They are the future of the sport so it was a highlight of my week to be able to help out.

Pro am Wednesday came and went with some fun with the big wigs from Brookwater, time spent chatting and hearing all about the upcoming projects to create an amazing resort out there. Our golf suffered for the chat but it was a great day anyway!

Rounds one and two have also come and gone and for the first time in a very long time I am using my short right handed putter in a tournament. I have to say so far it has definitely been a mixed bag. I expect that and haven't worried about missing putts at all this week, simply walk and try again! It is a refreshing way to play this game and I hope that the more and more I use it the more comfortable I will be. Knowing the putting numbers certainly helps and has been part of the key components to helping me with my putting. It hasn't been all plain sailing and sometimes I have struggled with the yips. It is a work in progress and I have been happy to reset and go again.

In the first round I injured my lower back and was very close to withdrawing through nine holes. It wasn't hurting to hit the ball but walking was proving a major difficulty. I was trying my best to stretch it out and I think the uphill walk up the 18th helped it to settle a little funnily enough. I decided to carry on and with birdies at my 10th thru to 14th holes it seemed like an ok decision. I was still hurting though and by the end was in considerable discomfort. I had made it though and signed for a 1 under par 71. I was very happy with that.

My second round this afternoon was a little more difficult than day one and along with not hitting it as well, I struggled to find my rhythm with the putter too. The good news was that I was holing enough putts and just hitting enough good shots to make some birdies and in the end manage to churn out another 71. At 2 under for the tournament I am exceeding my expectations for this week and also creating problems for myself. By that I mean I wasn't sure how my putting would go so soon after the change and also by making the cut it creates some difficulties for me getting to Japan with enough time for a practice round next week......first world problems.

So the weekend is going to be fun for me. No pressure as I'm ahead of where I thought I'd be and I look forward to enjoying myself out there in my home state open.